Kumble leaves Murali, Bhajji behind

Colombo: England and New Zealand apart, the non-subcontinental Test nations have the sort of spin depth that is the envy of even Australia these days.

For the first time in almost two decades, the Aussies are struggling to find someone who can fill the role left vacant by Shane Warne. So far those tried have not impressed and one, Stuart MacGill, has already retired.

Yet, as Sri Lanka challenge India in the first of the Idea Cup Test series four of the game's top spinners have been given opinion poll ratings on CricketNext website that shows how India's captain, Anil Kumble edges Muttiah Muralitharan while Harbhajan Singh and new so-called wonder boy Ajantha Mendis well behind.

India

Kumble is the 'Professor'. Quiet and studious, he always gives the impression that had he taken up chess, he would have been a grand master to rival the Russians. He impressed in his first Test series against South Africa in 1992/93 Friendship Series and has been a continual source of inspiration since.

He may not be everyone's idea of the perfect leg-spinner, but if you know anything about leg-spin, it is easy to understand why. He has his own style and as such, India need to acknowledge just how good this man is.

John Wright had felt that in an emergency, Kumble was the ideal man to be Test captain. His deep thinking and strategies worked well. Always a competitor, like Sachin Tendulkar, he was not on the 2001 tour through injury. His presence on the field and advice is invaluable and likely to give the more trouble than they would care to admit.

Bhajji may often be out of step with opponents but it is because he is a competitor. He is not afraid to voice an opinion and occasionally oversteps the boundaries. Yet as a competitive bowler there are few more challenging players in the Indian side.

He will give all he has for India, and while his match winning efforts against Australia in 2001 are still uppermost in many minds, his match-winning examples have often given India the edge when needed. His career stats of 275 wickets in 66 Tests displays how challenging he can be with a ratio of four wickets a Test. This is what is needed to give India the extra advantage with Kumble the ideal foil on many occasions.

While the history at Sinhalese Sports Club, where the first Test is taking place, does not usually favour spin, these is no reason that this can mitigate against the spin of Kumble and Bhajji.

Sri Lanka:

Known as the magician from the hills (he comes from Kandy where he went to school), Murali's action has caused more controversy than most. Yet he has come up smiling and his six wickets a Test strike rate is as impressive as is his 10 wickets a match on 20 occasions is just part of the statistical menu he has provided over the years.

As Sri Lanka's leading strike bowler he has put together man match-winning performances. While Galle is his favourite venue, he has always performed on Sri Lankan surfaces and where he has won more games than any other bowler in history.

That alone is an impressive record as is his record 735 wickets, which is why the Kandy Magician is in a league of his own. Often the doosra spells danger for the batsmen and he had earned quite a few wickets with this delivery that is often bowled with a lower trajectory and beguiles the batsmen into errors.

Murali has been top of the ICC Reliance Test bowling table for a quite a while, but as the Sri Lankans tell you, "Records are one thing and while they may look fancy in print, it is the performances which count".

There has been more pre-match hype written about the so-called Moratuwa Mystery man Mendis than there has about how the pitch is likely to behave. Perhaps this is because the new bowler, making his Test debut, is treading into new territory and facing far more challenging batsmen than, for example he has bowled to in the Asia Cup and the West Indies where he made his limited overs debut earlier this year.

Arguments about why he was not selected for the Commonwealth Bank series suggest that the selectors themselves were unsure of his effectiveness. What has been discounted by Sri lanka's coaches is that it was not because the pitches offer little to spinners. Trevor Bayliss rejected it as "Speculative and without foundation".

Certainly he will provide a challenge for the batsmen working out his method of bowling the off-spin, leg-spin, top-spin and whatever else he may flick out.

As India's coach Gary Kirsten explained, a bowler such as this is exciting and good for the game. For Mendis, the challenge is whether he will lose his mastery over the batsmen as such as Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar work out his tricks of the trade.

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